Pay us our deposits now : Berekum microfinance customers appeal to BoG
The revocation of the licences of a number of microfinance companies by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) is causing anxiety and stress among thousands of people in the Brong Ahafo Region who have deposited money with those microfinance companies.
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The latest to bare their teeth at the BoG are some aggrieved depositors in Berekum who took to the streets of the town to demand the payment of their deposits yesterday.
Depositors in Nkoransa have already taken to the streets to draw attention to their plight, caused mainly by the closure of DKM Microfinance Company and various fan clubs operating ‘Susu’ schemes in various parts of the Brong Ahafo Region.
The closure of the microcredit institutions for failing to meet the conditions for their establishment is creating security challenges in the region.
The Berekum demonstrators gave a two-week ultimatum to the BoG to ensure that the money they had invested in the microfinance institutions was paid back or they would advise themselves.
Clad in black and red attire, the demonstrators marched through the principal streets of Berekum, chanting slogans and carrying placards, some of which read: “Oh President, protect your people”, “No money, no vote”, “God is watching you”.
The leader of the demonstrators, Mr Alex Obeng, told the media that the customers had been making presentations to the Brong Ahafo Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and the Berekum Municipal
Assembly to intervene and ensure that the microfinance companies paid them their deposits, all to no avail.
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Many people in the region have invested huge sums of money in about 12 microfinance companies whose operations have been halted by the BoG for non-compliance with rules and regulations of the bank.
Insecurity
The situation has created insecurity in the region, especially Sunyani, Nkoranza,Techiman and Berekum where angry customers have embarked on a series of demonstrations to demand the money they have invested.
Last Sunday, a 22-year-old aggrieved customer of one of the microfinance companies was arrested by the Nkoranza Police when he kidnapped a three-year-old girl as ransom for the payment of his deposit.
The suspect, Eric Otu, is said to have kidnapped the girl, a daughter of a sports presenter at a radio station in Nkoranza, and threatened not to release her until his GH¢15,000 with Jasta Motors, a microfinance company, was refunded to him.
FIC
The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) also froze five accounts of the company, directing an immediate freeze of all debit transactions on any of the five accounts.
The situation resulted in angry customers of the company besieging some of its offices to demand the payment of their investments.
The inability of microfinance companies in the Brong Ahafo Region to fulfil their obligations to their customers has prompted the REGSEC to hold a series of meetings with managers of the microfinance companies and representatives of the customers to find a lasting solution to the problem.
Background
The government and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Brong Ahafo Region are engaged in a blame game over the operations of microfinance companies in the region.
In May this year, the BoG slapped some of the financial institutions and fan clubs, including DKM Microfinance, God Is Love Fan Club, Care for Humanity and a host of others, with a 90-day suspension.
It emerged that although DKM had collected about GH¢100 million from its customers, it had only GHc11 million in its accounts.
God Is Love had also collected a lot of money from people in the region but it emerged that it was operating as a fan club.
Other fan clubs
Other fan clubs which collected huge sums of money from people all over the region include Little Drops, which had GH¢6 million when it was asked to cease operations; Buoyant, which operated in
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Techiman; Adom Fan Club, Creative, Sharp and Love for Humanity, all of which are yet to refund the thousands of cedis collected from their victims.
NPP MPs
The situation compelled the NPP Members of Parliament from the region to call for the arrest and prosecution of directors of microfinance institutions and fan clubs whose fraudulent operations in the region had robbed the people of their lifetime savings.
Closure of banks
Meanwhile, the BoG has revoked the operating licences of 70 microfinance institutions operating in the country.
The move, according to the central bank, was the result of the failure of the institutions “to meet the conditions precedent to the issuance of a final licence”.
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